Mother’s Got A Dot Com

We’ve got this great big recurring bill, and it’s not even ours. Hubbys old partner, with whom he parted ways 4 years ago, has neglected to remove hubbys name from his company registries, and has now “forgotten” to submit his company records to the Norwegian revenue whatnot institution. A  memory lapse that means a (BIG) fine, and the guy hasn’t paid it. Hubbys name came up as shareholder and Board member (he’s neither), and the bill for the unpaid fine was sent to us.

The first three times, hubby made contact with the guy, and was assured that it was being taken care of. The last time, he said it HAD BEEN taken care of. Yesterday came a very official looking letter, telling us that the Revenue institution in question was going to get the money regardless, and that they were coming for our assets. Grr grr grr!!!

Again, the %¤#”?”# fellow says it’s no problem, but we can’t risk this, so WE have to take all the rounds with all the #%&¤#” official telephones complete with being put on hold for hours, telling your life story over and over, and we may not even get these people to understand what we’re saying. They’ve got RULES, you know… And RULES have to be followed. I could strangle the guy.

it’s our anniversary today, and we’re off to Oslo to see/hear Leonard Cohen in one of our largest sports arenas… Call me old fashioned, but I’m really looking forward to it!

Someone’s found in this old Dymo labels making device… Wonderful little gadget; now we’ve got labels on everything. My little schoolgirl to be is in 7th heaven, and puts her name on everything. Shelves, drawers - everything is labeled. I have to check my back regularly - I may be sporting such captions as: “kiss me!” or “hurricane Stine”… Our fridge says: “leave a message with me, and I’ll get back to you”, and the liquor cabinet tells us: “open only in emergencies”.

They’re having fun - I can only hope that the glue is getting old enough for the labels to fall off eventually…

I’ve got two little kites (Brats #s 5 and 6) who are becoming interested in horses… # 5 has kept a respectful distance until now, and although she still has a healthy respect for horses, she now wants to ride a bit with # 4 Brat, help with the grooming and so on. As for little Miracle Boy - he is a boy, and would be trotting around between the horses’ legs if we’d let him…
It would be so much fun to kit them out properly - in true Western style cowboy/girl gear. At cavenders.com, they’ve got everything, from cowboy boots for children, to all the gear that goes with them. They’ve got everything Mum and Dad need too, come to think of it - and the other boys and girls. Not that I think I could get the style across there - # 4 Brat would love it, but the other three would think I’ve gone off my rocker…
As for me - I like the comfortable shirts and jeans, and I absolutely love the boots. I have a proper cowboy hat already - it takes a bit of getting used to, but it looks good, and that sturdy leather keeps your hair dry!

Two days ago our three mares were introduced to the stallion whom we hope will father their foles.
His name is Lucas, he’s quite a bit smaller than them, but nature will probably take its course. He sure has the equipment for it…

Isn’t he a beauty? Who would have thought this swanky fellow is 27 years old?

I’ve been quite philosophical today, thinking about how life could have been for us from now on, if things had been different. While the loss of our home was still a possibility, I told myself that we’d be all right - we’re well insured, we’ve got good friends and a family who would have been there for us all the way.

Still - it’s d*** impractical to not have a roof over your head. Especially with 6 kids, 4 dogs, 4 horses and 12 sheep - not counting the cats, rabbits and birds… I’ve blogged about all our stuff before - truth be told, we could live quite well without most of it. The thing is - it’s there for a reason. Hubbys grandmas sugardish, that she got from her grandma… The chairs my great grandfather made… His wifes monogrammed hatbox… All the photographs - the newer ones are on CDs, and we would have rescued those, but we’ve got loads of ancient ones of both our ancestors that would have been left behind. # 1 Brats national costume that she inherited from my aunt, her fathers old guitar, our books, my grandmothers old Kenwood mixer, that makes me think of her every time I use it - all these things that complement our collective and individual memories, and make sure that the people we’ve cared for are remembered every day.

All the rest can be replaced, but still - we’ve made our life here, and what would we do with ourselves while that life was rebuilt? Would we want it rebuilt, or would we start over somewhere else?

These were my thoughts, far away from everything, dreading the phonecall that would tell me the fire was winning. It never came. If it had, we would have had to deal with an impractical life for a while, and I’m sure a solution would have come up. I’m grateful that no one was hurt, that no other houses burned down, and for the firefighters who did a wonderful, wonderful job.

I may well go back to blogging about such thrilling issues as diet pills, garden flowers, brats and making a buck online, but this is something I’ll never forget. I hope the kids have learned too - catastrophy is sometimes just a spark in a dry bush away, and it could be our turn next.

I’ve been away at our cabin for a few days - the two young ones, my American relative and I left on Saturday. We’ve had a lovely time - the folks at home, though, have had their share of drama.
Monday morning, a forest fire was spotted nearby. (Our place is where the red dot is, and the fire got considerably closer than what you see here.) No rain for weeks and high winds made the fire grow out of control, and hubby evacuated the kids and the horses Monday afternoon. # 4 Brat took my jewelry with her, bless her little heart… The smoke was reason enough to get out of there, but the fire was spreading very quickly for a long time, with the wind changing directions every 10 minutes.
Hubby stayed here, in close contact with the fire department - in case he needed to get out fast with the dogs and whatever mementoes he would have time to rescue. By Tuesday night, the fire was somewhat contained, and the kids were allowed back. Today, Wednesday, the fire is officially out, but there are still firefighters all over the woods, since the ground is still burning - some places as deep as 50 centimeters.
Not being there was not nice at all, but having the little ones at safe distance and not having to find beds for more than 3 people made it easier on the ones who were here.
We’re home now, and I’ve been out to look at our house - savouring the fact that it’s still there. It’s an eerie, unreal feeling to have been so close to losing everything.

No, not another George - I’m so happy that the American election is happening far away from here. Oh - I digress, and I haven’t even started yet.

Anyway - in my grandmother’s garden there was what we used to call a cat tree or cat bush. It wasn’t a tree - it may not even have been a bush - its long branches climbed like vine and covered the entire south wall of Grans outbuilding. It was probably what kept said outbuilding from falling apart, come to think of it… It looked like this:

The leaves start out green, then go half white, before turning to pink later in the season. I remember how fascinated I was by it as a child - I was so sure that someone painted it just to trick me… I’ve been looking for it in nurseries all over, but no luck. It would look wonderful here, either climbing on one of our juniper trees, or I could build a gazebo-type structure for it to climb on, creating shade in the summer.
Its latin name is Actinidia Kolomikta, and it’s actually related to the kiwi! A hardy tropical plant - and I’ll just have to keep searching.

Why it’s called cat tree or cat bush? Supposedly, cats love them so much that they can ruin them by scratching their bark. This is probably due to chemical substances contained in the plant that are attractive to cats.
You have to admit - it’s a beauty!

We do enjoy a glass of wine from time to time - especially when we have company. Most days, though, one of us is driving, so it’s not a regular thing.We buy wine, though, and although our collection isn’t a large one, we’re in dire need of a larger Wine Rack. As it is, we’ve got one under the stairs, for the bottles that are maturing or just waiting for the right occasion, and one smaller one in the dining room, for the “current” wines.
What we’d really like is a wine cellar (!), but failing that, The Vine Store has all the wine paraphernalia we could ever desire.
Metal racks, wooden racks, specialty racks and commercial racks - all we have to do is decide on a price range and a style - as well as how many bottles we need storage space for. (Between now and when all the kids are out of here and we can start drinking again - how many bottles will we collect???). We can have a wine tasting table with a Wine Rack underneath as well, and should we decide we want to open a bottle, there are high-tech corkscrews and wine glasses. I don’t think a wine cellar is possible at our present location, but for optimal storage, there are wine coolers for up to 75 bottles, which would be a perfect alternative…All in all, whether you’re a serious collector or just enjoy wine, like we do - The Vine Store is worth checking out. I’m pleasantly surprised by the prices, but I can only compare with prices in my country, so you’ll have to decide that one for yourselves…

Yesterday was the last day of May, and it apparently was the hottest May day since records began in these parts. We came home late, and sat outside enjoying the balmy night air - we almost didn’t want to go to bed, it was so lovely.

In the winter, we snuggle up in bed wearing long johns and flannel pyjamas, but now it’s back to babydolls or - dare I say it - nothing at all. During the day, we spend most of our time outdoors, and we actually have to withdraw into the shade from time to time. That’s a novel experience… We even have to water the plants these days, something we never even thought about last year, during the worst “summer” ever.

It may not last, so we’re making the most of it.